onfocus

argh. must focus. (I think somebody has a case of the fridays.)

on second thought, this is a much better picture:

Since it's all about him today, here's a picture. And oh, happy day! :) (you may need to crank up the contrast on your monitor to see this one. it's dark.)

my contribution to the sxsw memories: sxsw2k+chinese proverbs. (I only put up sxsw interactive photos. I'm still working on the music.) And thanks to this page.

brig:"i want to be on pb's photo mailing list." (3/28) Hey, that's a great idea. :)

testing. ahem.

meg: I've got a crush on the crush-proof box!

What a beautiful day! skp and I went for a mini hike at the coast and I took a few pictures with my digital camera.

some days, like today, poems exist and the words wrap themselves around you. a word embrace. every poem by prévert is the example of love I'm trying to follow. and I would write more.

In the eternal
Light of the spring day
The flowers fall away
Like the unquiet heart.

- Ki No Tomonori
(translated by Kenneth Rexroth in One Hundred Poems from the Japanese.)

oh boo: The Bovine Inversus Weblog has been terminated.

UPDATE: now the South by Southwest Press page says "onfocus.org". Getting closer! :)

Hey meg, I thought you were hiring someone to type in code for me. I can see it now: "ok, assistant, take this down: if - Len - parentheses - strVariable - close parentheses is greater than zero curly bracket, are you getting this? do while not, type faster! intThis is greater than intThat" oh, my productivity is going to skyrocket.

blurry papas fritas @ waterloo brewing co, Austin

I'm listening to Papas Fritas, Buildings and Grounds this morning. It's highly addictive. The weird part is, some of it reminds me of the stuff Syd Barret put out in the early 70's. call it insanity pop. then imagine Human League meets Possum Dixom with a postmodern grunge Partridge Family sensibility. If you're in the Bay Area, they're playing at Bottom of the Hill in SF on Saturday. If you don't need any new vices, don't go.

At the sxsw press coverage page, under PHOTOS FROM PERSONAL WEBSITES, there are links to my photos here. But they're labeled Elan.org. I'm not sure how they got "elan.org" out of "onfocus.com", but hey, links to me! [thanks for pointing this out, Elan. (or is that pb? I'm confused.)]

I can't believe soul coughing broke up. This is a sad, sad day. I can't even think of a witty lyric to quote. Go buy all of their CDs and cry yourself to sleep tonight.

Speaking of Tzara, this book looks dandy.

"The acts of life have neither beginning nor end." - Tristan Tzara

the second secret word for today is: sinus infection. ugh.

A strange part of Austin that I noticed on this trip is the number of places you can get a tattoo. There was even this place that had a loudspeaker blaring constantly like a carnival barker: "Tattoos! Fun! Get a tattoo! Tell them where you've been with a tattoo!" I wonder how effective this type of marketing is. (Come to think of it, maybe they're targeting carnival barkers.) It seems like there would be city ordinances against constant loudspeakers blaring...but then, Austin is so tattoo friendly. I almost decided to get one, but I realized I already had a zen tattoo: it doesn't really exist, but I can't get rid of it.

the secret word for today is: optimize.

happy spring, everyone!

Saturday night was filled with great music. Andy Stochansky, Tina (w/o the B-Side Movement), and Papas Fritas. I've had a great time but I'm really excited about going home tomorrow. Blogger needs more attention that I've been able to provide here on the road...and I have lots of information and ideas to digest. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed.

Gomez was the best show I've seen so far. I was trying to figure out what made them so good...and after about a dozen margaritas, I was regaling Meg and Matt with my theories. But this morning I forget. Must. Get. Coffee.

sxsw pictures: day...umm, 8? wow, I need to go home.

Last night was teen angst night at SXSW. At least, that's what it felt like. Everywhere we went we heard distorted guitars and screaming kids. Nothing subtle. Nothing inventive. Quite depressing. We ended up hearing the Jayhawks at the end of the night. Their vocal harmonies were impressive. Roger McGuinn joined them for one song, too, which was a nice surprise. He came out with his trademark rickenbacker guitar and sang a tune. It wasn't one of my favorite psychedelic byrds songs like I was hoping -- but still great. Tonight I'm hoping to see Gomez at La Zona Rosa. solid.

sxsw photos: day 7.

The Brave Combo street jam reminded me how portable music is. And that you don't need the lights, amps, monitors, or even electricity to create something energetic and beautiful. Just voices. Maybe some instruments. Music seems to be everywhere here...even in the cracks of the sidewalks when record executives aren't looking.

I heard Brave Combo tear it up at the Iron Cactus last night. When the Iron Cactus folks shut the sound off before the band was done, they took it outside. It was an unamplified old school sidewalk street polka jam. And it was fun. Until the cops told them to stop. When will society stop trying to silence alternative polka? Roll out the barrel, baby.

It seems like we had enough t-shirts to go around after the weblog panel. There's still a box that has been misplaced by fedex floating out in the world. If you see them on the black market, you'll know where they came from. A lot of people have been asking me where they can get one. Well, we've given away all that we have right now. But I'm sure we'll print more soon. They went over very well. (Thanks, Derek, for the killer design.)

sxsw pictures: day 4.

Here's a tip: ALWAYS label *all* of your fedex packages individually -- even if they're in a group. Especially if they are T-Shirts that people want. Or they may get lost. ugh.

I just want to be the first to post that meg had a conversation with Janeane Garofalo while out on the town tonight. Austin is fun for star spotting during sxsw.

sxsw pictures: day 3.

The user-centered (not centric) design panel was interesting. I now have many ideas on ways to improve some of our processes at Pyra. And some general ideas for features. But I was generally impressed with our current process. (which is heavily influenced by The Inmates are Running the Asylum.) They talked about creative treatments/scenerios...while we use personas to generate these. Ok, enough shop talk. On to the shady grove for some serious slacking.

I wore my Blogger T-Shirt to the conference today. Random people walked up and asked about Blogger. [gratuitous link.] It was fun. :) Us usually anonymous behind-the-scenes programmers like a little glory once in a while too. It sounds like people are generally enthusiastic about it...which is nice. But I'm waiting for the backlash. ahh, dreaded backlash. So as a preemptive strike, we should start making fun of ourselves. oh wait, I bet Neale has already done that. ;)

Note to self: purchase DAT recorder. someday.

I see that ev made it to phoenix for pc forum. He's showing up in Dan Bricklin's pictures, anyway. I wish he had a DAT recorder with him so I could hear all of the great conversations he's going to have. ;)

I wish Cron Daemon was attending this conference. She sends me a nice email every day. It would be great to meet IRL.

matt is posting some pictures from sxsw too.

early to bed and early to rise reduces the fatigue associated with hangovers. or so they say.

sxsw pictures: day 2.

so...here i am in a tex-mex restarant posting to my weblog with a palm vii. i just finished attending a panel about online journaling. they made distinctions between weblogs and journals...but i still can't see much of a difference. i just ordered a margarita on the rocks. (with salt.)

sxsw pictures: day 1.

more tomorrow. including the sxsw web awards. must sleep now.

at the deepleap party

The other day at Stinkfish, meg and I were giddy about the new Blogger T-Shirts.

After a virtual all-nighter working on the new Blogger...I'm a bit exhausted. But hello from Texas!

In a few hours I'll be on a plane to Texas. If you're attending SXSW, I hope to see you there. It's going to be fun.

plug in to the new b.

"end of the land sadness. end of the world gladness. all your san franciscos will have to fall eventually and burn again."
-jack kerouac

oooh, I just found some groovy photos at utsler.com.

and the giggles. collective giggles. hehe.

we've been breaking out into song in the office a lot. I'm afraid delirium has set in. work may no longer be possible.

Amazon.com: An Open Letter from Jeff Bezos. This was unexpected.

new phrase (by meg): wygiwyg. (pronounced "wiggy-wig") what you get is what you get.

And don't get me started on prop. 22. (map via matt.) being liberal is so frustrating sometimes.

Yesterday's elections were a great victory for middle-aged white men. (oh wait, that was the only choice.)

how can something be too real?

it turns out "super tuesday" is a misnomer.

geez, you miss a guy's weblog one day and he gives you the business! ;) Sorry, Erik, but if you've been keeping up with evhead, then you know things are happening all at once around Pyra HQ. I haven't had as much time for blog consumption. But, yes, I remember that class now. Thanks. :) I can't wait to reminisce about those days in a few days. Austin or bust!

Mike sent me a link to this page about the rule of thirds. Now it's starting to ring a bell. I think I learned about this in my videography classes in college.

the zooming van cracks me up. And it will save so many clicks and drags! Thanks, Bryan!

I'm going to try to listen more.

I'm not sure what the rule of thirds is, but apparently I follow it when I frame up my photos. Thanks, Digital Swirlee for letting me know! (on 3.4.00.) :)

new word: blogover - a weblog redesign. (done by someone other than the author or with outside consultation.)

new phrase: gadget panic - That sinking feeling you get about 2 minutes after leaving the house that you forgot one of your essential electronic devices. (ie. cell phone, pager, palm pilot, digital camera, etc.) Symptoms include frantically feeling your pockets and/or digging through your backpack, briefcase, or bag to make sure they're there.

I predict you will overhear this line several times at sxsw: you don't look anything like your blog!

Yeah they were dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'.

today's secret word is: sangria. shh...

today's fun fact: it helps if you breathe.

It's hailing today in Sebastopol. I take back the no-lion comment!

you know what they say about March: in like a lamb out like a lion. today was a beautiful sunny lamb day. here in ca, they're pretty much all lamb days all the time. you can't really call rain a lion. it's more of a goat or ram. or perhaps a mid-size feline like a lynx or bobcat. it's no lion, though. and i'm not complaining. ;)

I just got some photos back from the lab. I'll be posting them here as soon as get my network thingy back from the office and find some time to scan them in.

This is so cute. Emily's first blog. ;)

Why I'm Joining a Startup: "There's something about being here in Silicon Valley, listening to these idealistic and hopeful entrepreneurs talk, that gets to you. You think you're happy with your writing career, and then you meet a teenager who has never had it drummed into him that he has to be a doctor or lawyer or even a computer scientist to be successful, who has never been told he can't do his own thing, who just goes and makes something cool." [via scripting]